Cash-drawer.



No. 658,883. Patented Oct. 2, I900.

A. B. TOMLIN.

CASH DRAWER.

(Application filed Mar. 20, 1900. (No Model.) 2 Shoots-Shut l.

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THE NORRIS PETERS CO. PHOTO-Linux, WASHIMETON, D. c.

No. 658,883. Patented Oct. 2, I900.

A. B. TOMLIN.

CASH DRAWER.

(Applicltion filed Km. 20, 1900.) (No Model.) 2 Shasta-Sheet 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERT B. TOMLIN, OF FORT COLLINS, COLORADO.

CASH-DRAWER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 658,883, dated October 2, 1900.

Application filed March 20, 1900. Serial No. 9,443. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT B. TOMLIN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Fort Collins, in the county of Larimer and State of Colorado, have invented a new and useful Cash-Drawer,of which the followingis a specilication.

The invention relates to improvements in cash-drawers.

One object of the present invention is to improve the construction of cash-drawers, more especially that shown and described in Patent No. 593,704, granted to me November 16, 1897, and to provide a simple, inexpensive, and efiicient 'device for actuating the registering-disks and for preventing the same from being thrown forward a greater distance than desired, whereby the accuracy of the registering mechanism will be increased.

Another object of the invention is to provide convenient means for holding and concealing a tablet or pad for keeping a record of the transactions.

The invention consists in the construction and novel combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and pointed out in the claims hereto appended.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a casing or desk provided with a cashdrawer constructed in accordance with this invention. Fig. 2 is a plan View, one of the hinged lids being open and partially broken away. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view on line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a similar view on line 4 4 of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view on line 5 5 of Fig. 3. Fig. 6 is a detail View of a portion of the cash-drawer.

Like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawings.

1 designates a desk or casing designed to be mounted on a counter or other suitable support and provided with a horizontal partition 2, dividing the casing into upper and lower compartments, the lower compartment being provided with suitable ways and receiving a cash-drawer 3. The cash-drawer 3 is designed to be provided with a suitable locking mechanism 0t any well-known form, the form preferred being one adapted to be manipulated by keys set to a combination and having an alarm for indicating when an unauthorized attempt is made to open it.

The space above the horizontal partition 2 is divided by a vertical longitudinal partition 4 into separate compartments 5 and 6, and the top of the desk or casing consists of hinged lids 7 and 8, forming covers for the compartments 5 and 6. The lid 7 is designed to be secured at its closed position by a suitable lock, and the compartment 5 contains the registering mechanism for indicating the number of times the cash-drawer is opened,the lock being designed to prevent anyone tampering with such registering mechanism. The registering mechanism com prises disks or dials 9 and 10, arranged as illustrated in Fig. 2 of the accompanying drawings, and the disk or dial 9, which is elevated above the disk or dial 10, is provided with peripheral teeth 11, and it has a ratchet wheel 12 connected with it by a central tubular portion 18, which is arranged on a pivot 14, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 3 of the accompanyin g drawings. The ratchet-wheel is provided with an annular series of upwardly-extending ratchet-teeth corresponding in number to the teeth 11 of the dial or disk 9 and adapted to be engaged by a reciprocating actuating rod or bar 15, provided at its engaging end with an inwardly-extending arm 16, resting upon the ratchet-wheel and held in engagement with the same by gravity. The reciprocating actuating-bar 15, which is arranged adjacent to one side of the desk or casing, is pivoted at its rear end to an upwardly-extending arm 17 of a bell-crank lever 18, and the latter is fulcrumed at its angle and has its lower arm 19 extending through an opening 20 of the horizontal partition and arranged to be engaged by the cash-drawer, whereby it will be oscillated when the drawer is moved inward and outward. The drawer is provided at its back with a horizontal plate 21 for engaging the lower arm of the bellcrank lever, which when the drawer is closed is arranged as illustrated in Fig. 4 of the accompanying drawings, and when the drawer is opened the upper arm of the bell-crank lever is swung rearward by a coiled spring 22 to the position illustrated in Fig. 3 of the accompanying drawings. The coiled spring 22, which may be arrangod in any desired manner to throw the bell-crank lever in one direction, is preferably secured at its rear end to the back of the casing and at its front end to the upper arm of the bell-crank lever. The actuating-bar is moved rearward by the action of the coiled spring, and it is guided in a loop 23 of a bracket 24:, secured to the adjacent side of the casing, as clearly illustrated.

in Figs. 3 and 4.

The closing of the drawer carries the bellcrank lever from the position shown in Fig. 3 to that illustrated in Fig. 4E and elfects a partial rotation of the ratchet-whee] through the outward or forward movement of the actuating-bar, and in order to prevent the ratchet-wheel and the dial or disk carried thereby from being thrown forward a distance greater than one tooth by a sudden or violent closiug of the drawer a bell-crank lever 25 is employed. The bell-crank lever 25, which is fulcrumed at its angle on the adjacent side of the casing at a point in advance of the bracket 24:, has one of its arms extending forward, and its other arm extends downward and is connected by a bar 26 with the upper arm of the bell-crank lever 18 by a pivot, which also secures the actuating-bar 15 to the said bell-crank lever 18. The forwardly-extending arm, which lies below the periphery of the disk or dial 9 when the drawer is open, is provided with an upwardlyextending projection or lug 27, which when the drawer is closed is carried upward by the oscillation of the lever 25 to a point between the adjacent projections or teeth 11 of the dial or disk 9 to form a stop for the latter and prevent the same from being moved forward a distance further than one tooth, whereby the registering mechanism is rendered positive and active; also, the bell-crank lever 25 prevents the rotation of the dial or disk 9 in either direction when the drawer is closed.

The dial or disk 9 is preferably provided with twenty-five teeth, and it bears a series of numerals ranging from 1 to 25, which are adapted to be brought successively beneath an aperture 28 of the lid 7, through which the adjacent number is clearly visible and which is preferably provided with a transparent plate 29 of glass or other suitable ma terial. The dial or disk 9 at each revolution indicates that the drawer has been opened twenty-five times, and the ratchet-wheel 12 carries a peripheral lug or projection 30, which is adapted to engage the teeth of the dial or disk 10, which bears a series of numerals for indicating the number of times the drawer has been opened. These numerals, which increase in arithmetical progression, are multiples of twenty-five, the number of teeth of the disk or dial 9; but it will be readily apparent that the number of teeth may be varied as desired to suit the character of business for which the cash-drawer is desired. The dial or disk 10, which cooperates with a suitable indicating point or mark 31 of the casing, is engaged by a spring 32, bearing against the upper face of the dial or disk and preventing the same from being rotated at greater distance than one tooth at each revolution of the dial or disk 9.

In order to keep an account of the transactions for which the drawer has been opened, a pad or tablet 32 is provided and is arranged upon the lid 8, being held in place by a clip 33, secured to the lid and engaging one edge of the pad or tablet. The pad or tablet has its pages or leaves consecutively numbered, and each leaf or page is ruled and printed with numbers in regular consecutive order to correspond with the numbers of the dial or disk 9. The persons who have access to the drawer are required to make a record of each transaction on the tablet opposite the number corresponding to the number indicated on the dial or disk 9. Each page or leaf of the pad or tablet contains a record of the transactions relating to a complete rotation of the dial or disk 9, and it will be clear that the registering mechanism and the condition of the record of the pad or tablet must correspond and that any irregularity may be readily detected.

The sheets or pages of the tablet when removed are deposited in the compartment beneath the lid 8, and in order to conceal the tablet a supplemental cover 34 is hinged to a cleat 35, which is secured to the lid 8 adjacent to the top of the pad or tablet and which is designed to be approximately of the same thickness as the said pad or tablet. The supplemental lid or cover, which is adapted to swing downward over the pad, is provided with a pair of hooks 36, adapted to receive a pen or pencil, and the cleat is of sufficient thickness to provide a space for the pen or pencil holder above the pad or tablet when the supplemental lid or cover is closed upon the same,

It will be seen that the registering mechanism is rendered positive and reliable, that the bell-crank lever 25 effectually prevents the dial or disk 9 from rotating a greater dis tance than one tooth when the drawer is violently closed, and that when the drawer is closed the dial or disk 9 will be locked against rotation in either direction. It will also be apparent that a convenient tablet-holder is provided and that it will enable the contents of the tablet to be concealed from view when the tablet is not in actual use.

hat I claim is 1. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination of a casing, a cash-drawer, a .registering dial or disk provided with a ratchet-wheel, the bellcrank lever 18 arranged to be engaged by the cash-drawer and having one of its arms extended upward, a longitudinal actuating-bar pivoted at its rear end to the upwardly-extending arm of the bell-crank lever, and having its front end engaging the ratchet-wheel, a bell-crank lever 25 fulorumed at its angle near the front end of the actuating-bar and provided at one of its arms with a projection or lug arranged to ceases engage the dial or disk, and a connectingbar disposed longitudinally and extending from the other arm of the bell-crank lever 25 to the upper arm of the bell crank lever 18, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination of a casing, a cash-drawer, a registering dial or disk provided with a ratchet-Wheel, the bell-crank lever 18 arranged to be engaged by the cash-drawer and having one of its arms extending upward, a longitudinal actuating-bar pivoted at its rear end to the upwardly-extending arm of the bell-crank lever, and having its front end engaging the rachet-wheel, a bell-crank lever 25 fulorumed at its angle near the front end of the actuating-bar and provided at one of its arms With a projection or lug arranged to engage the dial or disk, a connecting-bar disposed longitudinally and extending from the other arm of the bell-crank lever 25 to the upper arm of the bell-crank lever 18, and the bracket 2 L mounted on the casing adjacent to the bell-crank lever 25 and extending over the connecting-bar and provided with a loop ,23 receiving and guiding the actuating-bar,

substantially as described.

3. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination of a casing having a compartment and provided with a lid arranged over the compartment and forming a support fora pad or tablet, and having means for engaging the same, a cash-drawer, registering mechanism, and a cover hinged to the lid and arranged to conceal the pad or tablet, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

ALBERT B. TOMLIN.

WVitnesses:

T. J. MONTGOMERY, C. H. SHELDON. 

